Coralie pulled the driver-side door open, her face carved from ice as she forced the biting retort back down her throat.

She might no longer love Sebastian, but she refused to let Lilliana flaunt herself right under her nose.

She had braced herself for an unbearable silence once they were alone in the car, but thankfully, after settling into the passenger seat, he let his eyelids droop, wearing his exhaustion like a visible weight.

Coralie flicked her eyes toward him, her expression unreadable and still.

He had bent over backward soothing Lilliana, only to put on this act when facing her.

Coralie pushed her foot down harder on the accelerator, letting the car surge forward without restraint.

Sebastian's eyes snapped open, and he barked, "Coralie, do you even know what you're doing behind the wheel?"

Coralie let out a faint, humorless laugh. "Funny, coming from someone who just wrecked a car."

The flicker of irritation on his face loosened something inside her, and the anger she had been bottling all day finally slipped free, leaving her strangely lighter.

Once they arrived back at Moon Estate, Coralie walked straight into the master bedroom and shut the door firmly behind her.

She wanted nothing more to do with Sebastian.

...

Coralie changed into her sleepwear and slid beneath the blankets. As the tightness in her thoughts finally eased, a soft dizziness overtook her, and she sank into a blurred, restless sleep.

Not long after, a sharp chill tore through her dreaming haze.

Suspended between sleep and waking, she sensed arms wrapping around her from behind, their heat chasing away the cold.

In the early days of their marriage, Sebastian had held her this same way when illness burned through her.

Still lost in that fog, she forgot, just for a moment, how broken things had become, and instinctively edged closer to steal more warmth.

"Stay still." A whisper-soft kiss brushed her ear, followed by low, blurred words thick with restrained feeling.

Then she became aware of something firm pressing into her lower back, sending an unwelcome tension through her.

Coralie instinctively adjusted her position.

The breaths behind her deepened and turned uneven.

A hand slipped under her clothes, traveling up her side before closing around her breast in a slow, deliberate squeeze.

Coralie, familiar with such closeness, felt heat gather low in her body, and a quiet sound escaped her lips.

At that sound, whatever restraint Sebastian had left shattered, and his other hand moved lower, finding the slick heat waiting there.

It had been far too long since she had felt anything like this, and the sudden press of his fingers made her thighs draw together on instinct.

Her eyes flew open as clarity returned, and she shoved Sebastian off before scrambling toward the head of the bed to switch on the lamp.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she demanded, her expression severe as the last trace of warmth turned to anger.

Sebastian pushed himself upright with one arm, the fabric of his loose pajama pants settling as he moved.

He gave a cold, mocking smirk. "This is my house. Can't I sleep in my own bed? Or who else are you expecting here?"

His words struck her like an insult, and before she could stop herself, her hand flew up and cracked sharply across his face.

He was the only man she had ever been intimate with, yet he spoke as if she were someone cheap.

The thought of him staying with Lilliana and then crawling into her bed now made disgust and rage churn violently inside her. She snapped, "You really think everyone is as filthy as you? People with rotten minds see filth everywhere!"

Sebastian could tell she had struck him without holding anything back. He sneered, "Coralie, if I mean nothing to you, then why did you ever agree to marry me?"

"Because before we got married, you treated me so gently that I foolishly believed it was love. If I had known you would run straight into another woman's arms the moment we were married, I would never have married you, no matter how much you begged! I've had enough of this miserable life!"

Coralie could not bottle it up anymore. The words burst out of her before she could swallow them down.

At last, she drew her mouth into a frigid smile and shot back, "Sebastian, if you and Lilliana are so hopelessly devoted, why return to Moon Estate just to make a spectacle of me?"

His accusation made her want to roll her eyes. She straightened her rumpled nightdress and set her bare feet against the thick, velvety carpet.

"Enough! Stop pulling Lilli into every single thing!" The trace of amusement disappeared from Sebastian's lips, and his expression turned thunderous, as though clouds had gathered across his face.

He had remembered the date and had deliberately come back to Moon Estate to mark her birthday. Yet Coralie had bristled like something trapped, shoving him away without hesitation.

"Lilli…" Coralie murmured the name under her breath. Even in the midst of their clash, there had been a thread of softness in Sebastian's tone when he spoke it.

It carried her back to a long time ago, when that same gentleness had once been meant for her. But that warmth had thinned out and vanished with the passing of time.

If not for the title of wife she still bore, Lilliana and Sebastian would have looked every bit the devoted couple.

After all, for the past year, Sebastian must have been sharing a home with Lilliana.

The stretch of distance between them had slowly cleared Coralie's haze.

Clinging to what had already cost so much made no sense. It was wiser to draw the line. Remaining stuck in the mire would only drag her deeper; leaving sooner was the only sensible choice.

There would never be a better moment than this, Coralie told herself as she lifted her gaze to Sebastian, her eyes steady and still like unfathomable water. "We should get a divorce."

Once that opening line slipped free, everything else followed without resistance.

Coralie let out a slow breath, as if emptying her chest of every unspoken ache. "Life doesn't stretch on forever, so our time ought to belong to the people we truly cherish."

A faint sting pricked her heart as the sentence left her lips.

Sebastian's eyes thinned as he fixed them on her. He almost demanded to know who she meant by the one she cherished, yet the question remained unvoiced.

Though he had known her for years, marriage had turned her into someone he could no longer read.

What, exactly, did she carry in her heart for him?

If there had been love, why had she done those things…

"In your dreams!" Sebastian cut off the spiral of his thoughts, tossing out the words before striding away and banging the door shut behind him.

...

Coralie remained perched at the bedside, her gaze locked on a slant of light spilled across the floor, oblivious to the fact that night had slipped into dawn without her noticing.

A night without sleep had only hardened her determination to walk away.

She cast a look through the window at the hollow yard below. Sebastian had summoned a driver and left the villa the previous night. He never came back after that.

She remembered the way the word "divorce" had flown from her mouth during their quarrel. Even though the timing had been far from perfect, she could not pretend it had not been spoken. Since she had raised the matter, remaining at Moon Estate no longer felt fitting.

She arranged her next moves with care and reached out to an attorney to lay out the circumstances.

Although Sebastian bore the blame, she had no desire to profit from him. The only lingering regret in her chest concerned the company's project.

It had first been put forward by her parents, but complications had surfaced during the initial round of clinical testing, forcing everything to a halt. After she married Sebastian, the two of them had recognized its promise and revived it under a different title.

Once she had conferred with her lawyer, she texted Sebastian. "I'll be leaving Moon Estate within a few days. The divorce papers will be delivered to you through my attorney. I'll talk to your grandmother myself. You don't have to trouble yourself over it."

Ten minutes later, Sebastian texted back. "Come to the office now. Perhaps I'm open to discussing the divorce properly."

"Alright." She agreed without pause.

Coralie rose and headed into the bathroom. The woman staring back at her wore heavy shadows beneath her eyes, dark and stark. She usually went without cosmetics, yet this time she set aside habit and carefully applied makeup on her face before leaving for the office.

If this marriage was to end, she would face it polished and poised, not resembling someone cast aside.

Spencer Group's headquarters stood in the center of Precsey, a looming twenty-eight-story tower with every level assigned to its own separate initiative. Coralie was mainly responsible for the artificial-intelligence biopharma division.

She finished her doctorate at Hozmard University, a world-renowned academy, in only six years, picking up computer science and AI on her own, and earned the degree at just twenty-four.

Security at Spencer Group was unforgiving, and every employee had to keep their access badge on them without exception.

Rushing in, Coralie realized she had left her badge behind and was forced to walk up to reception. "I'm here to meet Sebastian Spencer," she said.

The receptionist, someone Coralie had never seen before, asked, "Do you have an appointment?"

Her voice stayed courteous, but the contempt in her gaze was impossible to miss.

"No, just tell him I'm here," Coralie responded without raising her voice.

Without warning, the receptionist let out a mocking scoff and said, "The CEO has a packed schedule. He doesn't see random people who wander in without notice."

Her eyes moved over Coralie, finding no familiar designer marks, silently judging her clothes as low-grade.

With biting sarcasm, she added, "Don't imagine you can sneak your way inside. Our CEO has a wife."

"Mrs. Spencer, what brings you here?" Sean Barnett, Sebastian's personal assistant, hurried forward when he saw Coralie and spoke with clear respect.

"Mrs. Spencer?" the receptionist echoed, stepping back in stunned disbelief. She whispered, "The one who usually visits doesn't look like this..."

Coralie had already figured out what was happening. The only woman anyone could confuse for the CEO's spouse was Lilliana.

It appeared Sebastian was failing in both roles, husband and executive, by entangling his private life with work and bringing his lover into the office.

The receptionist had gone visibly pale with fear, but Coralie had no desire to make things difficult for an employee.

She faced Sean and said, "Bring me to Sebastian."

Sean cast the receptionist a sharp warning look and immediately guided Coralie forward.

When Coralie arrived at the CEO's office, no one was there.

Sean hesitated briefly and said, "Mr. Spencer is probably in the lab."

She gave a small nod and made her way toward the lab.

...

Before she got there, she caught sight of Sebastian.

He stood resting against the doorway, a folder in his hand, his stance easy but his attention fixed sharply on the report.

A new doctoral student was praising Lilliana, saying, "Mr. Spencer, the clinical data Dr. Wells submitted earlier was incredibly valuable. I heard she finished her medical doctorate at twenty-four. A mind like hers shouldn't be stuck as an ordinary physician. She's more than qualified to lead our project team."

Coralie's fingers clenched harder around her papers.

The receptionist's remarks about Lilliana coming here so often rang in her ears. Coralie wondered if Lilliana was attempting to seize control of her project.

"I refuse to accept this!" Coralie marched into the lab and slammed her papers onto the desk. "I will not allow Lilliana onto this project team!"

Her protest did not come from jealousy. After reviewing Lilliana's publications, Coralie saw they were showy yet shallow, and she suspected the Spencer family had cleared her path to graduation.

When Sebastian noticed Coralie, he motioned for everyone else to go.

He did not want word of their coming divorce circulating through the office.

Before long, only Sebastian and Coralie were left inside the lab.

"What are you doing? They were only giving compliments. Why are you reacting like this?" Sebastian looked at her with a frown. "Lilliana is committed to her medical path; she would never take control of this project."

Coralie believed none of it.

If Sebastian truly had no plan to replace her with Lilliana, why were his employees flattering Lilliana so openly?

After all, in everyone else's eyes, Lilliana was the CEO's true wife.

Her phone buzzed as her lawyer forwarded the divorce agreement draft.

Coralie gave it a quick look and then passed the phone to Sebastian. "The divorce agreement is prepared. If anything displeases you, you may change it."

"Divorce agreement," Sebastian repeated through clenched teeth as he scanned the document. His gaze paused on the words "leave with nothing."

He lifted his eyes to her, a mocking smile tugging at his mouth while his gaze stayed cold and faraway, like a frozen lake.

In one sharp flick of his wrist, he hurled the phone into a bucket of water close by. "Divorce? I refuse. No law firm in Precsey would dare accept this case!"

"What did you just do?" Coralie's eyes flew wide as she hurried to grab her phone.

She scarcely had time to check it before Sebastian yanked her up by her thin wrist.

He noticed she had made a deliberate effort with her appearance today, more than even during their honeymoon.

Her formal outfit—a black V-neck blouse tucked into a gray pencil skirt—traced her figure, making her stand out like a rose against snow, impossible to ignore.

Who had she dressed up like this for?

Sebastian's throat constricted and his mouth went dry. He wanted nothing more than to claim her entirely, to keep that beauty for himself alone.

He dragged her toward a nearby table, knocking the glass of water to the floor and forcing her against its edge.

Coralie fought against him. "Sebastian, don't touch me!"

Sebastian seized her other hand and forced both arms behind her back with one grip.

She understood exactly what he meant to do, and shame flooded through her. Even knowing their coworkers could not possibly hear, being overpowered by her husband in a place like this made her feel utterly degraded.

He had not treated her like his wife, not even like a basic human being.

Sebastian looked down at Coralie, his face stripped of feeling. "Coralie, you're delusional if you think you're leaving with nothing lost. Who will repay me for what I've lost?"

Coralie clenched her teeth. "What compensation do you expect?"

His mouth curved into a smile as he leaned nearer. "Physical intimacy is a fundamental part of marriage, isn't it? We've been married for eighteen months, and subtracting roughly ten days each month for your cycle leaves only about twenty days for sex. You owe me more than two hundred times of intimacy. We'll begin now and settle it before you walk away."